Political morality in a postmodern age: A case study in the debate on human rights at the United Nations

Do international Human Rights (HR) documents secure a right to free sexual orientation? Countries where the natural family is the fundamental unit of society see sexual orientation other than heterosexual as an immoral concept forced upon them. Sexual minorities have always been persecuted and uphold their right to a free sexuality. Postmodernism has formed an increasingly visible “queer culture.” The debate in the United Nations (UN) over different kinds of sexual orientations is thus a case study of a moral controversy with global consequences for self and society. The study uses sources pertaining to HR at the UN, moral values and the postmodern conception of self, sexuality and culture. Results will be presented in chapters on (1) the moral case for and against sexual orientation, (2) the postmodern context that allowed the formation of a queer culture, (3) the debate in the UN and implications of recognizing sexual orientation as a HR, and (4) conclusions. For the purposes of this project, the term “sexual orientation” will be used to denote sexual orientations other than heterosexual.